


In the Eyes of a Child

by kakaitalover



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Brain-melting Schmoop, Fluff, Gen, I Do Not Apologise, Kidfic, Shameless Cutefic, Toddler!Marcone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:39:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4960960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakaitalover/pseuds/kakaitalover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hendricks didn't grin, but it was a close thing. “That's not the favor she had in mind, Dresden.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Eyes of a Child

It was a cessation of noise that sent Hendricks barreling down the hall, gun drawn and safety off as he slammed the door open with his shoulder. Far from kidnapping fairies or malicious rivals, however, the scene that met his panicked entrance was positively domestic. Johnny sat in his playpen, thumb in his mouth and wide, fascinated green eyes fixated on one Harry Dresden, pyromaniac wizard, stubbornly incorruptible PI, and all around sap for small children, it seemed. He had a goofy smile stretched across his face and one massive paw extended over the crib, jingling his bracelet enticingly just out of reach of pudgy, spit-soaked fingers.

Johnny opened his mouth and drew a breath – Hendricks winced reflexively – but what came out was not a strident wail but a sharp “Ah! Ah!” Small arms imperiously lifted to demonstrate the necessity of being carried, and Johnny bounced in place impatiently as he waited for his subject to obey.

Dresden turned to Hendricks, trying (and failing, spectacularly) to wipe the soppy expression from his face as he joked, “Who's this little guy, then? Your boss leaving by-blows in his wake now? You'd think he'd have the decency to drop them off somewhere other than a lair of vice and sin, or whatever the line is.”

“Not exactly,” Hendricks growled. “There was an incident with a … _thing_ that giggled a lot and glowed and left changed things in its wake. Gard thought there was something familiar about its signature; she's out looking for it now. She said to tell you she's calling in her favor.”

“She wants help finding it?” Dresden's forehead furrowed. Johnny, displeased at being ignored, had levered himself upright and was rattling the top of his pen, trying to get the wizard's attention. “AH!” he shouted, scowling.

“I've never heard of anything like it, but if you've got samples of skin or ectoplasm or something I can set up a tracking spell.”

Hendricks didn't grin, but it was a close thing. “That's not the favor she had in mind, Dresden.”

He reached into a nearby cabinet and thrust a fully-stocked diaper bag into Dresden's arms. The shock that plastered the man's face was almost as gratifying as the panicky dismay that followed. “I've got rotating teams set up to keep an eye on you two, so stay in public places or behind your wards. Foster,” he backed up to say into his walkie-talkie, “they'll be coming out soon, get in position. And keep a lookout for Rossi, he'll rendezvous with you shortly,” he added as an afterthought.

Signing off, he plunked Johnny into unresisting arms, added a teddy bear, a blanket, and a just-in-case bottle to the diaper bag, and bustled wizard and toddler out the front door before Dresden could gather his wits and start arguing.

“Rossi, Hendricks,” he spoke quietly into his phone from inside as man and child blinked at each other out on the steps. “Got a job for you. Day-long gig, two subjects, follow them discreetly and get as many pictures as you can. One of them's Dresden, so bring extra rolls, color and black-and-white. Usual deal, full reimbursement for wasted film and damaged equipment, fifty apiece for any clear shots. Hook up with Foster, he'll tell you where they are. Agreed?”

“On it.”

And that was the end of things, half-hourly check-ins aside, until evening when Hendricks received a call from the Boss himself, requesting pick-up and a change of clothes. Apparently kisses from a tall wizard in a makeshift bathtub - Hendricks was not even surprised, Johnny had always been a forthright and demanding little shit when he wanted affection and Dresden clearly had no defenses against dimples and baby fat - were just what was required to break spells wrought by mischievous trickster gods, and Mr. Marcone had abruptly found himself full-sized and naked, falling out of a large bucket of sudsy water with Dresden's lips still pressed to his cheek.

***

Hendricks spread Rossi's work across his desk and mourned once again the effect of magic on any technology more recent than typewriters. Over a thousand frames, and less than a tenth of them were good enough to develop. He sifted through the less grainy shots, following Dresden and little Johnny's day in still life.

A series of photos documented their trip to the park, messy chocolate ice cream grins in one, squalling evasion of napkins in another, a couple of careful walking lessons next to a park bench.

The next clear shot showed Dresden warily backing up from a flock of college-age girls who'd obviously gathered to coo over Johnny in his tiny blue sweatpants and “Spaceman Spiff!!!” t-shirt. Johnny seemed to be eying them uncertainly too, leaning away and clutching Dresden's fingers with a white-knuckled grip.

Blurred shadows, sourceless lights, and grainy warping destroyed the rest of that roll, the pair's activity lost until lunch. Hendricks bit back a laugh at the sight of little Johnny in black and white caught mid-stomp, chubby hand gripping the restaurant table for balance as he screamed up at Dresden's unimpressed face. The following stills showed him sulking in a time-out chair hastily pulled up behind Dresden's seat, being turned to face the corner again repeatedly, and – Hendricks did chuckle at this one – stubbornly falling asleep in the chair rather than apologize.

Sorting through the rest, he placed a few calls and wired Rossi's pay from his own personal account, hid the pictures and negatives briefly as the Boss came in for a file and left again, and made a note to share them with Sigrun when she returned from Asgard.

He returned thoughtfully to one of the crisper black-and-whites from right after lunch, a sleeping Johnny nestled in Dresden's arms as they made their way back to the apartment, Dresden looking off-camera at the city around them. You couldn't really see Johnny's face in the picture, and Dresden's was half-hidden, nose planted in dark, baby-fine hair, but his eyes were soft and his expression fierce, and the hand cradling Johnny's head was gently sheltering. Hendricks stared at it for a while, then set it aside for framing – it would make a perfect birthday present for the Boss.


End file.
